Godman Gurmeet Ram Rahim convicted in ‘Rape case’

After 200 hearings spread over 10 years and numerous stay orders of higher courts, the Dera chief who was charged with the offence of rape of a female devotee in 1999, was on Friday held guilty by the Special CBI Court of Panchkula.

He will be kept in judicial custody and the quantum of punishment will, however, be announced on August 28. He faces up to 7 years in jail.

Since Wednesday, parts of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh have been under a security lock down as 200,000 followers of Ram Rahim massed in Panchkula ahead of the verdict in the sexual exploitation case against him.

The sexual exploitation case was registered against Dera chief in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about the alleged sexual exploitation of two ‘Sadhvis’ (female followers) by Singh.